Something sweet to perk up your Humpday. All you need to create this treat is a sack of sugar and some patience.

If you are a lover of sweet treats and enjoy cooking up a storm in the kitchen, then this is right up your street. Hopefully you have a dishwasher on standby because you are going to need one. Luckily for me E does the dishes. Not because he loves doing them, but apparently I am crap at scrubbing pots and pans. Oh well, it just means that I don't have to plunge my hands in to a dirty sink of dishes. Anyway. On to the treats.

EQUIPMENT

METHOD TO THE MADNESS

Add the yeast to the lukewarm water followed by 2tbsp of caster sugar, stir until dissolved and leave to froth for 20 mins.

Take the warm milk and pour the melted butter and the yeast mixture in to it along with your eggs. Then add another 2tbsp of caster sugar and mix.

With the flour, create a well in the middle and add the liquid mixture gradually and get yours hands stuck in. If you find the mixture to be too sticky, sift flour in to it until you create a dough.

Knead your dough for 15 mins. Dust a large bowl with flour and place the dough inside. Cover with cling film and place the bowl in a dark warm place until the dough has doubled in size (roughly 45mins).

TIP: Warm your oven up and then turn it off before putting the bowl inside. This will give your dough encouragement to rise up and be more fluffy when you cook it.

Mix your caster sugar and cinnamon together in a wide dish. For this add as much cinnamon as you like - I bloody love the stuff so I go mad.

Once the dough has proved take it out and punch it. A lot. Knock it back. For a good couple of minutes. Just whack it.

Heat up the oil in a deep frying pan on a medium heat. Whilst this heats up roll out the dough until it is about 2cm thick and use a large cookie cutter - I tried to use the Dinosaur cutters but they looked like they needed to be put down, so I opted for a fat little gingerbread man cookie cutter instead.

When you think the oil is hot enough, take a small piece of dough in to the oil and see if it sizzles. If the oil spits everywhere and scares you a little, turn down the heat - don't want to burn your treats. If the dough browns nicely it is time to pop your dough shapes in to the oil.

Please take care when you are doing this step as the oil is bloody hot. Trust me. I have three burns on my fingers. After 2-3 minutes it should look golden brown on the bottom. Flip it over using tongs or a spatula and wait until that side is golden brown too. You should have a pale band running around the middle, so don't worry about that.

TIP: Just do one to begin with. Then cut it open to see if the dough cooked all the way through. You don't want a raw doughnut!

Cover a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Remove the doughnuts from the pan and place on to the baking tray. Leave to dry for a few minutes before you manhandle it and dunk it in the sugar bowl.

If you want to fill your doughnut - which I highly recommend - then fill a piping bag with your chosen filling, make an incision somewhere and push the piping bag inside as far as you can. Slowly squeeze your piping bag until you can feel the doughnut plumping up.

TIP: Do not squeeze to fast or else your doughnut will explode. Messy. But still tasty.